Chapter 204: Chapter 204: The Mom of Firewood, Rice, Oil, and Salt, How Did She Become a Genius?

A middle-aged man pointed at his nose and cursed, "You idiot! Who taught you to do something so stupid!"

"Instigating a kidnapping! The nerve of you!"

"I didn’t instigate it, I..." Before Justin Hughes could finish his explanation, he took a kick to the back of his knee and was forced to the ground.

The man kicked him a few more times. "The complaint has been filed with me, and the evidence is on my desk. How dare you deny it!"

"Hiring social misfits to tail Seraphina Vaughn, contacting desperate criminals and leading them to the bar, and intentionally leaking false information that her family was rich to entice them into kidnapping her!"

One by one, each of these was a serious crime!

"You really are a fine son!"

A stack of photos was slammed against Justin Hughes’s head. The sharp corner of a photo immediately scraped a bloody line across his forehead.

In public, Justin Hughes was always arrogant and cocky, but in front of his own father, he didn’t dare make a peep.

Mr. Hughes paced back and forth in front of him, his hands clasped behind his back.

With every glance at Justin Hughes, his anger flared hotter and his disappointment grew deeper.

It was bad enough that he did something wrong, but he couldn’t even clean up his own mess. He’d let someone follow the trail and uncover everything, laying the evidence right on his desk!

Mr. Hughes felt like he could have killed him.

"I didn’t really mean to hurt her, I just hired someone to scare her," Justin Hughes said, terrified of his father and trying desperately to defend himself.

Mr. Hughes barked, "You shut your mouth!"

Things had blown up to this extent; it was far beyond a simple "scare."

"With that stupid brain of yours, there’s no way you could have come up with such a complex scheme. Tell me, who put you up to this!"

Justin Hughes remained silent, letting his father kick and hit him.

Sophia Shaw and Yancy Shaw hadn’t left. They exchanged a look, and Yancy Shaw nodded.

Sophia Shaw walked over.

"Mr. Hughes, hello. My name is Sophia Shaw."

Sophia Shaw had become so famous these past few days, how could Mr. Hughes not know who she was?

His expression softened noticeably. "Miss Shaw, is there something I can help you with?"

Sophia Shaw pointed at Justin Hughes. "The person Young Master Hughes instigated the kidnapping of, Seraphina Vaughn, is the daughter of my mentor, Shawn Shepherd. That day, my mentor rushed downstairs precisely because he received a call about the kidnapping, only to slip on the ice powder that had been scattered and fall from the launch tower."

"The people who scattered the ice powder and ordered it done have both been found. They are my liaison and Zenith’s Joanna Sherman. And that call... was actually meant for me."

Sophia Shaw said no more, pressing her lips together. The vermilion teardrop mole on her face remained as still as ever.

Mr. Hughes was a sharp man; he naturally understood the implication of her words. He kicked Justin Hughes twice more, but his gaze fell, dark and grim, on Yvonne Sherman and Chad Jennings across the way.

He clenched his jaw. "Daring to incite my son to commit a crime... I’ll make sure she never gets out!"

That look from Mr. Hughes was as sharp as a razor blade!

The color, having just returned to their faces, drained away once more, leaving them deathly pale.

Yvonne Sherman’s lips trembled violently and uncontrollably. Despair washed over her, and her vision began to blacken at the edges.

Chad Jennings slapped his forehead. "It’s over!"

Although Mr. Hughes was a businessman, he had countless political and commercial dignitaries in his network. If he wanted to ruin someone, not even Dylan Shelton would dare stand in his way!

Sure enough, a moment later, the lawyer returned, pale-faced. "Mr. Shelton says he’s not one to receive this kind of favor."

THUMP. Yvonne Sherman collapsed to the floor again.

Chad Jennings rushed over and grabbed Sophia Shaw’s hand. "Faye, don’t be like this. We can talk this out. As long as you don’t let Joanna go to jail, Daddy will do anything you ask."

Sophia Shaw shoved his hand away in disgust.

June Evans glared at him. "Oh really? Then go die. If you die tonight, maybe your daughter will get out."

Chad Jennings sat on the floor, his face ashen, his eyes filled with terror.

He didn’t dare to make a sound in response.

June Evans looked down on him utterly. "Spineless man!"

She deliberately raised her voice. "Some people claim they’d do anything for their daughter, but the moment you tell them to die, they turn into cowards. Can you rely on someone like that?"

"Sharing life and death is impossible for them. But colluding on dirty deeds, doing vile things, and sucking people’s blood? That’s more their speed."

Leah Evans and June Evans took turns, completely tearing Chad Jennings’s character to shreds.

Yvonne Sherman’s face was ashen, and her gaze toward Chad Jennings was tinged with despair.

Having thoroughly vented their anger, June Evans and Leah Evans felt great.

"The Shermans brought this on themselves. They deserve it!"

"It’s all thanks to Faye’s quick thinking. She took care of Dennis Warren and used Justin Hughes’s father to crush the Shermans so they can’t make a comeback!"

June Evans and Leah Evans couldn’t stop praising Sophia Shaw.

Yancy Shaw’s eyes were also filled with admiration for Sophia Shaw. "Faye is indeed much more capable than her uncle."

Dennis Warren harming people with ice powder, Justin Hughes’s convoluted scheme against Seraphina Vaughn.

Either of these cases was virtually untraceable. If he had been the one to investigate, he would never have figured it out in a lifetime.

But Sophia Shaw found the culprits in just a few days, linked the two incidents, and successfully sent Joanna Sherman to prison.

"Don’t say that, Uncle. You’re amazing too."

"Back then, Mom’s company was completely gutted by Chad Jennings and Yvonne Sherman, leaving nothing behind but a mountain of debt."

"In just a few years, you brought it back from the dead. And in the years that followed, you relentlessly suppressed the Shermans, driving them to the brink of bankruptcy. That’s not something an ordinary person could do."

"If it hadn’t been for Vincent Grant, the Shermans and Chad Jennings wouldn’t have been able to act so arrogantly for so long."

At the mention of Vincent Grant, the smile faded from Sophia Shaw’s face.

She was the one who had led the wolf into the house, bringing so much trouble upon the Shaw Family.

"Oh, come on, you’re both amazing, so stop flattering each other." Seeing the mood shift, Leah Evans quickly tried to smooth things over, deliberately mocking herself, "If you two keep this up, there’ll be no room left for us ordinary people to live."

June Evans understood the guilt in Sophia Shaw’s heart better than Leah Evans did. She chimed in, "That was just the Shermans getting a lucky break. It’s no one’s fault. As long as our family is safe and sound, that’s better than anything."

"Right, safe and sound!"

Sophia Shaw softly repeated those three words, her gentle eyes filled with determination.

The four of them walked out.

Across from them, Vincent Grant and Cedric Grant were rushing over.

They met at the entrance of the police station.

Two groups of people.

One on the left, one on the right.

One entering, one exiting.

Vincent Grant and Cedric Grant both stopped in their tracks and looked toward Sophia Shaw. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Sophia Shaw didn’t break her stride, walking right past the two of them.

Out the door, a right turn, moving farther and farther away.

The entire time, she stared straight ahead, not sparing them a single glance.

The Shaws also loathed the two of them; not one of them offered a greeting.

But Vincent and Cedric Grant’s gazes followed Sophia Shaw’s retreating figure for a long, long time.

They watched her get into the car, watched the car drive past them, watched her familiar, gentle face in the window as she stared quietly ahead.

They watched as she passed them by once again, without giving them so much as a look...

"Dad," Cedric Grant called out in a trembling voice. "What they’re saying online... is it true? Is Mom really that incredible?"

For the past few days, the news, the internet, and the newspapers had all been filled with stories of Sophia Shaw’s accomplishments.

That she personally led the five-star satellite launch, that she was Shawn Shepherd’s personally-taught disciple, that she was the legendary rocket genius...

To this day, Cedric Grant still couldn’t accept it.

How could the mother who was with him every day, dealing with daily chores and trivialities, suddenly be a rocket genius?